At first I just looking at it because of mild curiosity. It looked ok, definitely was happy to see turn based combat. And then the guy mentioned his name, Brian Mitsoda. He used to work with Interplay, black isle, troika, and then Obsidian. He was also the main guy who did the story and character dialogue for Vampire Bloodlines, one of the greatest fps/rpg games ever made. That pretty much did it for me. I want this game.

Speaking of Kick Starters, I found one I'm interested in owning. It's finished and has been funded. But Grim Dawn, made by the guys at (the now closed) Iron Lore who made Titan Quest. Looks real good. More Diablo 2 like, but way better then TQ in terms of art. They even got the rights to the TQ engine.

Dead State is about survival. Different books, games, movies, etc. have tackled the theme before, highlighting different aspects - stories about how far people are willing to go to survive, or how the terror of the situation can change them, or just using the tragedy to strip away a person's mask and reveal his true self. So, where does Dead State stand? What effect do you want to achieve with the game and how does your game design help achieve it?

Annie: I think most zombie games, because they're so much in the twitchy-shooty vein, seem very short-term, almost like surviving a single night and then hooray, everything's all better! It doesn't really sink in, or become something that sort of hides itself in your thoughts. It sounds kind of weird to say I kind of want this game to exhaust you, to make you really want to fight for your Shelter and its survivors, to get really excited about each little victory (hooray, a couple cans of baby corn! A FEAST AWAITS!) and invested in the welfare of your allies, but there it is. After hours of Dead State, I both want you to be eager to return to the safeties of the real world and still longing to go back and do more in Splendid.

Brian: Dead State tackles all the different way survivor guilt, stress, panic, greed, and human nature can affect survivors in a prolonged crisis. There are many ways the allies and other characters can change depending on the player’s choices or the fates of others. There are going to be a lot of surprises, and a lot of players are going to see completely different sides of allies. Aside from making them interesting and provide interesting gameplay choices, I do want to make them come across as realistic. There’s a bit too much over-the-top in game writing these days, and this is a chance to do something more than the standard badasses and weirdos.